Flutter Entertainment

3 September closing: $210.93

30 September closing: $237.28

Peak September closing: $244.03

An exceptionally busy September saw Flutter’s US shares soar after confirming two major acquisitions and delivering a bumper investor day were viewed as extremely positive by the market.

Firstly, the business agreed to acquire 56% of NSX Group, the parent company behind Brazilian brand Betnacional, for $350m before following that up with a €2.3bn move for Playtech’s B2C brand Snaitech.

However, the gains made on the share price for those deals were dwarfed by a huge spike following the group’s investor day on Wednesday 25 September as CEO Peter Jackson and his team laid out a truly bullish picture of Flutter’s growth.

The business is expecting full-year 2024 revenue of around $14bn alongside $2.5bn in adjusted EBITDA, with total worldwide regulated TAM to be worth $368bn in GGR by 2030.

The stock was also helped by the company confirming a $5bn share buyback programme, which is expected to launch following the group’s Q3 earnings announcement next month.

FDJ

2 September closing: €36.78

30 September closing: €38.60

Peak September closing: €38.76

La Française des Jeux (FDJ) secured a significant win in September after the French competition authority gave its greenlight for the operator to proceed with its acquisition of Kindred Group. FDJ agreed to maintain distance between its existing monopoly operations and the Kindred brands, including distinct wallets and a lack of cross-selling.

In due course, FDJ brought forward its acceptance period for Kindred shareholders to back the €2.1bn from mid-November to the start of October. Despite the progression made in the major M&A deal, FDJ’s share price didn’t spike on either piece of news.

Conversely, heading into October as the French market suffered a universal decline in fortunes, FDJ’s share price has slipped.

Entain

2 September closing: 639p

30 September closing: 763p

Peak September closing: 789p

If every month under Gavin Isaacs’ tutelage goes as well on the stock market for Entain as September, shareholders will be collectively beaming. With the former Games Global chair stepping in as chair at the start of the month, Entain’s stock has climbed by almost 20% since.

Of course, fresh blood meant fresh optimism, but a brief trading update on Monday 9 September gave the FTSE 100 firm’s share price a shot in the arm out of the gate.

The note explained online NGR for H2 2024 is ahead of expectations while there had been an “accelerated recovery across gaming and sports” and “stronger” sports betting volumes and margin.

That kickstarted a strong September for the Ladbrokes Coral parent company as the stock continued to climb, reaching a peak of 789p on 27 September.

Playtech

2 September closing: 640p

30 September closing: 752p

Peak September closing: 759p

A defining 48-hour period last month helped send Playtech’s shares spiking in September after agreeing fresh terms of its Caliplay deal and agreeing to sell Snaitech to Flutter for more than €2bn.

A slow start to the month was quickly forgotten come Monday 16 September when the London-listed firm’s shares leapt to 753p from a previous close of 654p after it announced a new agreement with Caliplay over the Caliente Interactive JV.

The following day, Playtech confirmed its Italy-facing Snaitech B2C arm would be sold to Flutter for €2.3bn as it laid out its aspirations for a core B2B focus.

While shares declined slightly, the price recovered and ticked up towards the end of the month after a healthy H1 report helped give the firm a strong end to September.

Light & Wonder

3 September closing: $108.70

30 September closing: $90.73

Peak September closing: $112.68

It was a testing month for Light & Wonder after the supplier was hit by an injunction in a case against Aristocrat around its Dragon Train game. Aristocrat had claimed the Dragon Train title had infringed on its IP for its own Dragon Link slot series, with the US District Court of the District of Nevada granting Aristocrat’s motion for a preliminary injunction.

The decision, which Light & Wonder said it “respectfully disagree[d]” with, saw the supplier’s share price take a significant hit in the following days. With the ruling coming on 24 September, Light & Wonder’s stock slumped around 20%.

However, analysts at Truist said the decline marked a buying opportunity. The firm’s stock has since dipped below the $90 mark in October.

The post Stocks Tracker: Fresh faces and M&A moves give mixed end to Q3 first appeared on EGR Intel.